Post #13

Reading the chapter “Trends in the Labor Market and the Factors that Shape Them” really got me thinking about how quickly job availability can change and how it may affect everyone in the future.  Table 17.1 (which lists the 16 occupations with the projected greatest percentage decline) really got me thinking about just how technology is affecting job availability.  Although technology has made our world so much easier and has allowed us to do countless things we weren’t able to do in the past, it has left me to wonder if this new technology comes at a price.  I would say that in some instances, yes, there are negative aspects to all the technological advances we take advantage of today when it comes to careers.  Some of the careers listed in Table 17.1 include: sewing machine operators, order clerks, photographic machine tool setters, and machine feeders among many others (Brown, 2012).  It is clear that the decline in these occupations is based primarily on technological advances.  How can technology be so beneficial if it is taking away jobs from hardworking Americans?

Table 17.2 in the text (which shows the 20 occupations with the most growth projected from 2008-2018) was equally as interesting to me.  It makes sense to me that many of the job openings are in the health care areas.  People are living longer, and many of the baby boomers are getting older and may need a higher level of care, which in turn, creates more jobs in these occupational fields. Some of the occupations listed include: cashiers, retail sales, fast food workers, and home health care aides etc.  What I found most interesting is that out of the 20 occupations that are expected to increase in the next 10 years, only four of them require some sort of higher education.  To me, that is a little bit discouraging since I have been spending so much time and money earning my degree, and hardly any of the fastest growing jobs even require much education.  This leads me to many questions such as will there be jobs available for the countless people that are working on earning a college degree? Will their hard work be worth it in the end?  Even though many of the job openings are in areas that require very little training, the highest paying jobs are still in areas that require formal education.  Since there may not be many well paying jobs available in the future, many people may find themselves in lower paying jobs which do not allow individuals to utilize the skills they possess.

Reference

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.